The law came into force on April 1, 2000 with the aim of “at least doubling the share of renewable energies in total energy consumption by 2010”. The operators of plants for the production of renewable energy should have a high level of investment security by receiving a guaranteed feed-in tariff. Grid operators have to take every kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity from renewable sources, feed it into the grid and distribute it further.
Electricity from wind energy costs between 6.19 and 9.1 cents per kWh, and solar power costs between 48.1 and 50.6 cents. The grid operators incur costs from the purchase of renewable electricity that they cannot cover by selling the renewable electricity on the electricity exchanges. The difference is passed on to all electricity consumers as a so-called EEG surcharge. In 2000, the EEG surcharge was 0.19 cents per kWh – it reached its highest level in 2017 at 6.88 cents. The allocation is recalculated in October of each year. For a number of electricity-intensive companies, a large number of exceptions apply to the payment of the EEG surcharge so that they can remain internationally competitive.